Characters / Aquaman (The Character)

Aquaman I ("Adam Waterman")

Aquaman I

First Appearance: More Fun Comics #73 (November, 1941)

"Those clothes are a giveaway—you're thieves and pirates! The sea should be free and safe! That's what I'm going to make it!"

A mysterious figure who was pulled out of time and erased from everyone's memories by forces unknown. The Golden Age Aquaman was experimented on by his scientist parents, who mistakenly assumed they discovered the lost city of Atlantis but had instead found an abandoned Atlantean outpost. He led a solitary existence for the most part and had adventures in the 1940s and 50s, briefly using the alias "Adam Waterman" to study at a human college, before he disappeared completely. His main nemesis was the pirate captain Black Jack.

Following the end of Flashpoint Beyond, something has resulted in this Aquaman's presence being restored.

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• Animal Lover: Aquaman was intensely protective of marine life and would grow furious if it was endangered wantonly. In addition to teaching humans the error of their ways, he also worked to help them understand sea life by giving educational lectures and working to ensure that fish were harvested sustainably for food, and was often found donating any rewards for stopping crooks to marine-focused charities.
• Arch-Enemy: The pirate Captain Black Jack was his main recurring foe, and the dislike was mutual.
• Back for the Dead: A complicated one. Originally, the Golden Age Aquaman was subject to Canon Discontinuity. He was restored to existence only to then be erased by the Cosmic Retcon of the first Crisis kicking in.
• The Beastmaster: A rarely-used but vital part of his control over sea life extended to sea birds as well, which was often a wild card against anyone expecting solely marine life.
• Better with Non-Human Company: He considered sea creatures his close friends, and attempts to integrate into land society rarely lasted long and were often awkward.
• Decomposite Character: He is essentially Aquaman of the Golden Age and the original Earth-2 established as a completely separate person who debuted, and vanished, decades before Arthur Curry was born.
• Friend to All Living Things: Unlike Arthur Curry, he didn't have telepathy or an innate ability to control fish—he was just nice and sufficiently charismatic, and they followed because they liked him.
• The Hermit: Chose to lead a solitary life in the sea, and wasn't a part of any superhero teams like his contemporaries.
• His Name Really Is "Barkeep": According to his origin, his father really did name him Aquaman.
• Humble Hero: He was quick to admit to not knowing everything about the sea and was willing to study about it at college, and often credited his finny friends with victories rather than himself. Acting like a showoff was so out-of-character for him that an issue's plot was built around it (it was a hoax to lure out a criminal).
• I Work Alone: Alan Scott did offer him a place on the Justice Society, which he declined, and he briefly worked with the All-Star Squadron, but it didn't last long before he decided to go back to the ocean.
• Keep the Reward: He was adamant about not collecting any rewards for his services, often having any monetary reward donated to charities instead.
• Killing in Self-Defense: In cases where Aquaman kills sea creatures that were threatening him, friendly humans, or friendly fish, the creatures always instigate the fight.
• Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: His unnamed father was "a famous undersea explorer" and scientist whose name would be recognized if spoken, hinting that this Aquaman's father was a version of Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
• Lazy Alias: His name when he briefly tried attending college was the not-terribly-creative "Adam Waterman".
• Line-of-Sight Name: When he was briefly stricken with amnesia, he gave himself the name "Seven-Seas Saunders" after seeing a sign for Seven Seas Sailing.
• Nature Hero: When not helping humans or fighting criminals, he lived a solitary existence under the sea with fish and other sea creatures for company.
• Non-Human Sidekick: His main companion was Ark the seal, and he had another friend in Tusky the walrus, who became the basis for the character in the Filmation cartoon. His New Golden Age profile additionally lists two great white sharks named Riptide and Scarlett as close companions, though they never appeared in his Golden Age tales.
• Only Friend: His one recurring friend was Phineas Pike the Sea Sleuth, who disappeared after only three appearances and left him solitary again.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Aquaman grabbed a gun at least once to defeat a tough crook. While it turned out to be a fake-out by shooting a can of tomato sauce so it'd explode and scare him, the caption box went all-in on how out-of-character it was and wondered if he'd broken his solemn vow.
• "Reading Is Cool" Aesop: Realizing he couldn't learn everything about the sea solely from experience, he went to college to study the sea and read about it in books.
• Remember the New Guy?: Downplayed, as he obviously existed as the protagonist of the Golden Age comics, but there was never any indication that he was a separate person from Arthur Curry in the post-Crisis or post-Flashpoint DCU, with his existence revealed and explained in The New Golden Age #1.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Aquaman took a sworn vow to not maim or kill a prisoner, and goes out of his way to save any humans caught up in danger regardless of moral status.
• Thrill Seeker: He wasn't happy unless adventure was to be found, and often turned down rewards from grateful humans in favor of seeking excitement.

Aquaman II (Arthur Curry / Orin)

Aquaman II

Aquaman Pre-Flashpoint

Aquaman Post-Flashpoint

First Appearance: Adventure Comics #211 (April, 1955)

"I know there are certain benighted souls who think I'm some kind of third-rate hero, Scavenger — but I'd think that you of all people — would know better! But since you seem a bit confused — let me make this perfectly clear... I was in the world-saving game when people like Firestorm and Black Lightning were still in diapers... I've worked hard to earn the respect and trust of every living creature beneath the waves — and I take my job very seriously... so get this through your head, punk... I'm Aquaman, King of the Seven Seas... and I'm the BEST!"

Pre-Flashpoint, the most well-known aquatic superhero, Aquaman is the king of Atlantis. Known underwater as King Orin, and by surface-dwellers as Arthur Curry, he strives to protect the seas and the surface using his abilities. His origin has varied from being the half-human son of Atlanna and Tom Curry to being the son of the wizard Atlan and raised by dolphins from infancy, but his heroism never changed.

He disappeared sometime after Infinite Crisis due to making a deal with the water gods to save the inhabitants of Sub Diego, after which he became "The Dweller in the Depths", the mentor to the second Aquaman, A.J. Curry. Orin died at the end of the Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis series, murdered by the undead assassin Narwhal, but during the events of Blackest Night, he was brought back as Aquaman thanks to the White Entity.

Post-Flashpoint, Arthur Curry is the son of Atlanna, the Queen of Atlantis, and Tom Curry, a lighthouse keeper from Amnesty Bay. Atlanna returned to Atlantis soon after Arthur was born, but his father spent the rest of his life waiting for her. Arthur was raised to learn responsibility, and was trained in his powers by his father's friend Stephen Shin. However, after the death of his father and Shin revealing him to the world, he leaves the surface after finding his mother's former adviser Vulko and discovers Atlantis. There, he met his half-brother Orm, and became the King of Atlantis. Eventually, he abandons his duties after falling in love with Mera, the Princess of Xebel, and decides to fully commit to superheroing on the surface world, even founding the Justice League. Eventually, circumstances force him to return to the throne, to be the ruler of a people half of which hate him.

Pre-Flashpoint

• Abdicate the Throne: When not being forced off his throne, he's likely to abdicate, as being a ruler and superhero is often too much stress.
• All Animals Are Dogs: Practically his treatment of any sea creature he has been assisted by thanks to his telepathy. In fiction, he has owned three animals as pets.
  • In both animated and comic versions, his steed, a giant seahorse called "Storm".
  • Only in comics he had an octopus pet called "Topo".
  • And in his Filmation toon, he was followed everywhere by his faithful walrus "Tusky".
• The Alleged Car: Aquaman, King of the Seven seas and a super-hero true and true, was seen riding a rickety-looking jet ski for 9 years in his Hanna-Barbera animated adventures.
• Apparently Human Merfolk: Half part of him at least, he even provides the page image.
• An Arm and a Leg: His hand was eaten by piranhas.
• Back from the Dead: After dying under vague circumstances, he was resurrected at the end of Blackest Night.
• Badass Boast: Even though Arthur is pretty humble, you can expect him to throw one of these towards anyone who underestimates him. As that one you can read on the page entry, above.
• Barbarian Longhair: To go with his badass beard.
• Bash Brothers: Most of the time with Martian Manhunter.
• Battle Couple: With Mera.
• The Beastmaster: A rarely-used but vital part of his control over sea life extends to sea birds as well, and in one Silver Age instance, a water buffalo.
• Big Brother Mentor: To Arthur Joseph (A.J.) Curry, the second Aquaman. And to both Aqualads too.
• Blinded by Rage: He tends to not think clearly when his wife, kids, or mentees are in danger, which villains are happy to exploit. A big example is after Arthur Jr. was suffocated to death—he didn't die right away like he thought, and while Mera went in search of a cure and failed to save their son in time, Arthur was on a revenge quest against Black Manta and missed the whole thing, prioritizing personally killing Manta over potentially helping his son.
• Break the Badass: One of the most hard-core examples in fiction. Think about every possible way life itself can put you in the gutter, put it all together, and you'll get a picture of just how screwed is Aquaman's life:
  • His half-brother has been attempting to kill him since the day the former knew the latter existed.
  • He had to fulfill the role bestowed to him, to rule over people that looked down on him for being a half-breed.
  • His first-born son was suffocated to death by his worst enemy.
  • His wife was accursed, leaving her unable to live in the same world he lives in.
  • His left hand was devoured by piranhas.
  • ...wanna mock of him now?
• Cain and Abel: The Abel to Orm, the Ocean Master's Cain.
• The Call Knows Where You Live: Inverted, while venomously rebuking Vulko's offer of monarchy. Orin found himself without choice but to return to Atlantis after finding out prime minister Hagen cursed his wife with lungs before his imprisonment.
• Came Back Wrong: While better than some of those resurrected in Blackest Night, it did come with the temporary problem that his attempts to summon sea-animals summoned uncontrollable undead animals.
• Dead Guy Junior: Post-Crisis, he's given the name "Arthur Curry" from his adoptive human father.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Constantly. Aquaman throws down with Gods and Lovecraftian Horrors on the reg. He apparently has a yearly pact with Etrigan to drive down a very Cthulhu-like beast down to its home.
• Disability Superpower: His grappling-hook/liquid-metal/magical water hand.
• Expy: Of The Sub-Mariner, believe it or not. Several tropes you will find here apply to them both either for being Alternate Company Equivalent eachother, Plagiarism in Fiction or merely Contrived Coincidence.
• Fantastic Racism:
  • Turned out that Atlanteans despise human beings thoroughly, and that's why he was left abandoned on mercy reef as a babe and exiled numerous times after taking the throne by his more than ungrateful subjects; this coming prior to losing his firstborn son, then his wife, then his hand and a bit of sanity on his part.
  • In time it got so bad that he eventually sweared-off his royal shtick indefinitely after the whole Thirst debacle and the coven of wizards who secretly pushed for his exile/execution and their attempted extinction of the surface world, going so far as to angrily rebuffing Vulko's invitation back to the throne preferring to stick to the sunken city merpeople he'd come to associate with instead.
• Fatal Flaw: Wrath and pride. Being king of the seas often leads to him underestimating new foes or recurring ones, while his anger issues lead to bad or hasty decisions to the point that villains exploit his rage.
• Fights Like a Normal: He used to, until his writers started rigging the Superpower Lottery in his favor.
• Friend to All Living Things: Well, sea critters, anyway.
• Good Is Not Soft: Like Wonder Woman, he is very unambiguously a force for good above all else, but he is also easily one of the worst members of the League to piss off because, like Wonder Woman, he's one of the most brutal and uncompromising members of the League, and if you piss him off enough, he may just opt to kill you. Should you bring any harm to his family, the probability of him offing you rapidly shoots up to 1.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: While born of yet shunned by both Atlantis and the surface world, Aquaman will always stand up, if not for himself, than for others in need in order to do the right thing.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Was the son of the Atlantean Atlanna and lighthouse keeper Tom Curry in the Silver Age. This was retconned back into continuity when Orin came back in Blackest Night.
• Heartbroken Badass: Following the death of his son and subsequent crumbling of his marriage to Mera.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Thanks to Superfriends, go figure! The thing is that he was toned down on his most famous animated portrayal ironically at the same time his comic book was one of the bolder ones in the DCU.
• Heroic Bastard: In Post-Crisis continuity, he was the bastard son of Atlanna and the wizard Atlan. This was later retconned back to his Silver Age origin after Infinite Crisis.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Martian Manhunter, due to their kinship as outsiders.
• Hook Hand: His left hand was replaced first with a hook, then with a "Liquid metal" one (Which main ability was to turn into a hook) and the "Waterbearer hand" With wich he had show:
  • Anti-Magic: One of the perks that come with the Waterbearer hand, very useful when dealing with magics users or extradimensional monstrosities.
  • Extradimensional Shortcut: The Waterbearer can traverse the borderline dimension of the secret sea; the primordial ocean where all ideas spring from in shared imagination, enabling him to travel across the world in record breaking time.
  • Grappling-Hook Gun: He has these built into his harpoon and mecha hands, shooting them along a length of tungsten steel cable like a harpoon.
  • Healing Hands: Hand to be more precise, the Waterbearer can heal most anything that ails ya if given direct contact. Doubles as Heal It with Water.
  • Organ Autonomy: A unique attribute of the water bearer hand is that Arthur can detach it from his body and utilize it as an independent limb.
  • Power Cable Attack: As one of the tricks that come with his grappling-hook prosthetic, Arthur can electrify the wiring tethered to his spear giving those bored into a heavy shock.
  • Shapeshifter Weapon: A trait carried by both, liquid-metal and magical water hands, the limbs can morph at will via thought through Orin's telepathy.
  • Summon to Hand: Again, both the liquid metal and the water hands.
  • This Is a Drill: Another feature of the spear hook is the penetrative ability is has being made of a vanadium-titanium alloy that could penetrate just about anything.
  • Touch of Death: The reverse effect of his restorative abilites done by sucking the moisture out of other living beings through contact.
• Horse of a Different Color: Storm, his faithful underwater steed.
• Hour of Power: Subverted, He could only stay out of water for only one hour in the Silver Age. In the modern age this was either retconned, edited out or eventually he got over it in due time.
• How Do I Shot Web?: In all the hubbub over whether Mera should stay in Atlantis or on dry land while finding a way to undo her hex. It never occurred to Aquaman he could just nullify it with his water hand.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: When he first died, his last request was to be buried next to his father at the foot of the lighthouse where he grew up in an utterly unremarkable grave. Atlantis's elite weren't enthused about their king refusing to be entombed in a more royal and elaborate setting.
• Knight in Shining Armor: Turns out his classic Orange-green uniform is also light scaled armor.
• Knight in Sour Armor: Most modern depictions of Aquaman have him somewhat grumpy and anti-social, but at the same time he can be very empathic towards others and does care a lot for the well being of both humans and Atlanteans, even if he has a hard time showing it.
• Lightning Bruiser: Impossibly fast and agile in the sea (and still far faster than any normal human on land), and can take blows from Superman not breaking a sweat.
• Manly Facial Hair: First grew a beard in the 90s, and it looked awesome. Sometimes he shaves it off, but he always ends up growing it back.
• Meaningful Name: He is a king named Arthur.
• Outliving One's Offspring: His toddler kid was suffocated to death by Black Manta.
• Papa Wolf: Mess around with his family or his subjects and find out you'll have to answer to him before the hour is over, and by "answer to", expect to either have to fight him or run like hell and hide behind someone who can handle him in a direct fight.
• Prongs of Poseidon: Favors a trident (Sometimes a pentadent), because there is a sort of Fantastic Race Weapon Affinity amongst Atlantean Kings, you know?
  • Ancestral Weapon/Weapon-Based Characterization: In his time he wielded both, the mystical tridents of Greek God of the Seas Poseidon and Roman God of Oceans Neptune. Both of which like their namesakes, gave Aquaman access to vast meta-mystical powers.
  • Archaic Weapon for an Advanced Age: Self-explanatory, isn't it?
  • The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In: Whenever he have to use it as a ranged weapon.
  • Ludicrous Mêlée Accuracy: He's quite good wielding it!
  • Magical Weapon: Belonging originally to a god, no less! It affords him control over the waters and the storms they equate.
  • Only the Chosen May Wield/Staff of Authority: Only the legitimate King of Atlantis may wield it.
• Raised by Wolves: Porm, the dolphin who acted as a surrogate mother to Aquaman.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: Aquaman is the King of the frigg'n 7 Seas and he is a huge badass.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Compared to most xenophobic, ruthless, or incompetent former Atlantean Kings, he is this.
• Reluctant Ruler: As far back as the Silver Age he wanted nothing to do with ruling and only agreed to be elected ruler to prevent a civil war. When the strain of being a superhero and king got to be too much, especially with would-be usurpers, he abdicated the throne and left it to Vulko.
• Retcon: Twice. His parentage post-Crisis is changed to full blooded Atlantean with Atlan as his father and his name Orin. Sometime around Final Crisis, he returns to his half-human roots as Arthur Curry, son of Tom Curry and Atlanna.
• Rightful King Returns: Has to pull this on a regular basis whenever his former subjects elect someone else or are tricked out of their freedom & livelihood by an even bigger bastard than they are
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: He is the King of Atlantis.
• Sour Outside, Sad Inside: Aquaman (1991) exemplified this, as after the death of his son and estrangement from Mera, he acted cold and angry on the outside but was plagued with sorrow and insecurity on the inside. Battling his Enemy Without, Thanatos, helped him confront his inner demons head-on and admit to feeling sad.
• Super Power Lottery: Aquaman possesses quite a versatile powerset during the course of his over 80-year publication history.
  • Elemental Embodiment: Occasionally on the rare happenings when Aquaman gains water abilities, he also becomes a physical representation of this element.
    • Single Substance Manipulation: Back in the 60's on his Filmation tie-in to The New Adventures of Superman, he could "densify water" and throw it like rocks, knocking down his opponents.
  • Required Secondary Powers: Due to adapting to living at the crushing depths of the sea, he's got: (...besides Super Not-Drowning Skills and Super Swimming Skills)
    • In a Single Bound: Being fully adapted to live in the pressure of the deepest sea trenches, he's able to leap miles at a time through the air, with Hulk-like jumps.
    • Super-Senses: His eyes are adapted to see on low visibility environments, and his ears are sensitive enough to listen help calls several knots away and hardened to withstand an average of 350 ATM of pressure without blasting up.
    • Super-Speed: Accustomed to live and trained to withstand the gargantuan pressure, Aquaman is quite fast not just on land, but has proven to be unbeatable underwater.
    • Super-Strength: Aquaman can lift several tons in weight and his blows have proven to be more than enough to send flying at least the 90% of his opponents. Depending on the Writer he can trade blows with even The Man of Steel himself and not ending up with his knuckles busted.
    • Super-Toughness: Even out of water, hi-caliber bullets and explosives just graze his skin a little or produce shallow wounds.
  • Telepathy: Aquaman can do more than speak to sea creatures. His telepathy extends to anything that's evolved from the sea or thrives from it. In the Golden and Silver Age this mainly extended to sea birds and in one instance a water buffalo, but in modern times it includes Atlanteans, humans and even aliens.
    • Speaks Fluent Animal: His primary power and the one he's better known for. He learned to tap into "The Clear", a matrix that connects all sea life in the world which allowed him to see, hear, and feel everything that all lives in the ocean have ever experienced.
    • Seers: If Aquaman concentrates hard enough, he can gain insight as to what needs to be done and where he ought to be.
• Trauma Conga Line: He loses his son, his marriage, the loyalty of Atlantis, is mutated following a deal with undersea gods to save a suddenly drowning Sub Diego, and is eventually killed by a cult and brought back as a Black Lantern. Even though he is brought back to life proper and gets Mera back again, he has to deal with his powers still not working until he completes the White Entity's test for him.
• Universally Beloved Leader: In Aquaman (1991) Aquaman is near-universally loved by the people of Poseidonis, who are overjoyed to see him even when his presence leads to danger. Arthur himself feels uncomfortable with the hero worship, as he feels unworthy of their love and worn out from giving so much.
• Unscrupulous Hero: Has crossed into this realm here and there. He's still easily the most brutal member of the League even on his best days.
• The Unsolved Mystery:
  • If his multiple abilities are shared by every Atlantean and he's just the very best amongst them, or if they were granted due to his hybrid uniqueness.
  • How do Atlanteans speak AND listen underwater... should them not be all telepaths to communicate themselves or do they squeal like dolphins?
• Walking Shirtless Scene: During Peter David's run.
• Warrior Prince: And King, later on.
• Weaponized Animal: As told above, he can always request assistance from his "most faithfull subjects" whenever he finds himself unable, unavailable or to perform specifical tasks that require that animal in question special abilities.
• Worth It: Played for Drama and talking about Underestimating Badassery! In Justice League, he was able to save his baby boy's life but at the cost of his left hand.

Post-Flashpoint

• Adrenaline Makeover: After having been exiled from his kingdom by a runaway pretender posing as his wife, Arthur underwent a rather profound change both in appearance and demeanor. One reminiscent of the days of his old appearance back in New Earth continuity combined with elements of the Cinematic Universe's design.
• Badass Boast: Gave a pretty awesome one while facing down a regiment of Kryptonians under the thrall of an faith leeching Mad God, armed with nothing but the deity of his own peoples mythic keepsake.
  Random Soldier: I almost pity you, Fish-Man.
  Arthur: At least I'm not a slave to a madman.
  Some time after said mooks' further jabbing at his abandonment by his god.
  Arthur: My people worshiped Poseidon. They said his armies rode sea-foam stallions that swept away all who stood against them. Poseidon's gone now but this? This is his trident. That makes Me god of the oceans! And those behind you?
  Cue the water horse tsunami roaring up behind them.
  Arthur: Those Are My Damn HORSES!
• Barbarian Hero: Played With. His new appearance in the Bunn-McCarthy run certainly has traits showcasing a real He-Man or Conan style scheme. It's even somewhat reminiscent of his old Peter David-era look.
• Barbarian Longhair: While not as pronounced as during his Modern Age appearances, he has definite signs of this.
• Bash Brothers: Believe it or not with Lobo.
  • Martian Manhunter again, this time going all the way to Heterosexual Life-Partners. Ever still with even the New 52's , proven when he responded to a telepathic distress beacon sent out by one of J'onn's many scattered sub-selves.
• Battle Couple: Usually fights alongside Mera. Used to be this with Y'Wara of the Others.
• Beard of Sorrow: In actuality more of a developed Perma-Stubble than a beard, which grew in and has been retained since he was ousted as the king of Atlantis by his estranged wife Mera, who dubbed him a traitor ordered to be hunted down and executed on sight secretly being impersonated by her deranged sister Hila.
• Breakout Character: Arthur's streamlined lore and strong amount of Character Development made him a major fan favourite during the New 52 era, when previously he'd often struggled to stay in prominence compared to the other Justice League founders. Notably, the Aquaman lore was one of the few parts of the N52 to remain more or less untouched after the era officially ended in 2016.
• Decomposite Character: This Arthur's history is much more streamlined, and he's never had absurdly long hair and was never called Orin. Orin is now the name of his ancestor, Atlan used to look like Arthur did in the nineties, the beard and hook look is given to his Crime Syndicate counterpart, and his daughter Andy is the one to suffer limb loss in Future State.
• Good Is Not Soft: Had to become a destroyer of worlds in order to save his own from another dimension, and was more than willing to feed a particularly dickish soldier to a sea beast under his control knowing full well that the ranks of his kingdom's military are filled with guys like him. In the League, he's more willing to kill, like Diana and Barry.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Son of the Atlantean Atlanna and the human Tom Curry.
• Heroic Bastard: Son of Atlanna and Tom Curry when they were unwed.
• Prongs of Poseidon: His trident is a Magical Weapon made of a special gold by the first king of Atlantis, one of Arthur's indirect ancestors. While it demonstrated no special abilities at the beginning, it was capable of piercing Darkseid's dense hide, something not even Superman could do then.
  • Anti-Magic: His trident can penetrate otherworldly obstructions and defenses with ease.
  • Elemental Crafting/Forged by the Gods: Like the other seven relics, his trident is made from a rare, all but impossible to recreate, enchanted gold crafted by an Atlantean alchemist.
  • Elemental Powers: The Trident of Poseidon allowed Arthur a variety of mystical abilities that allowed him to wield the powers of the titular god of the sea and storms. Along with a few other powers that are and are not equated to the deity of the same name.
  • Flight: His trident can bestow limited flight to its wielder.
  • Mix-and-Match Weapon: The Trident of Poseidon is a Morph Weapon capable of shifting between an enchanted edged blade and an overarching lancet.
  • Only the Chosen May Wield: Like in the past.
  • Portal Pool: Usually through utilizing water as a conduit to travel across vast distances, even interplanetary lengths by accident.
  • Single Substance Manipulation: The trident wielder has a limited capacity to control and project massive amounts of water whenever in contact with it.
  • Sonic Stunner: Aquaman on occasion had use it like a giant tuning fork, hitting it against the ground to produce a sound explosion.
  • Staff of Authority: His trident acts as a symbol of monarchy among Atlantean culture.
  • Summon to Hand: And it only responds to him.
  • Ultimate Forge: The method for making this metal has been lost with the disappearance of the Deserters.
  • Weapon Twirling: In his animated and video game appearances, he's prone to this.
• Replacement Artifact: After going into hiding during the Thule incursion crisis when his supposed wife Mera dumped him in favor of a secure Atlantis, Arthur acquired a new artifact from the sea god Poseidon himself which gives him power over the storm and the oceans. The relic has tremendous powers, some of which have yet to be seen.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: He was the King of Atlantis, but left the throne to his brother Orm for years to live on the surface. After Orm invades the surface world, Arthur retakes the throne. He still has time for everyday superheroics, Justice League duties, and the Others, however.
• Sixth Ranger: He thinks the world sees him as this on the Justice League, and it's not unfounded either.
• Super Power Lottery: As a result of his mixed genes, he has certain benefits:
  • In a Single Bound: His preferred method of getting around on land.
  • Super-Speed: Has a very fast reaction time, and is faster than humans, especially underwater.
  • Super-Strength: He had trade blows with the likes of Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and even an insane Hercules and keep on fighting to a stalemate. Possibly not as strong, but able to withstand even a brawl with Superman.
  • Super-Toughness: He can take high caliber bullets and only get a minor cut, suffer abrasion from torpedoes while coming out mostly unharmed. He is also pretty immune to cold, having spent six months in Antarctica with just pants and not even being bothered. He has an immeasurable resistance to heat as well, having endured things from heat blasts, explosions, and even swimming into open lava vents. Though dry, arid environments like deserts cause him more struggle.
    • Healing Factor: A more subdued version, but a minor cut he received from assault rifle rounds was healed in a few minutes and he heals pretty quickly while underwater as well.
  • Telepathy: He not just can see, hear and feel what sea creatures do, now it can be extended even to alien living forms, extra-dimensional denisens, magic users and more.
    • The Beastmaster/Speaks Fluent Animal: It keeps being his shtick, no doubt!
    • Making a Splash: He has even shown inklings of his previous, albeit augmented, connection to "The Clear", enabling him not only protection from, but also limited control over, the poison of Thule's dark magics bleeding into the DCU reality.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: It's there, but he's with Wonder Woman in the "I'll kill when I really have to" category. He even tried to avoid killing the inhabitants of the Trench, who possibly weren't even intelligent but were determined to feed on his hometown.
• Took a Level in Badass: More like several levels actually; after he ousted his brother from the throne and ended a war between two worlds before it began, he's quickly established himself as a competent leader and monarchical figure to both peoples of the world, both respected and greatly feared by the surface world at large as a whole. The hit points he makes just keep climbing from there:
  • Fighting and holding his own against Martian Manhunter of all people.
  • Taking on Gorilla Grodd, a super-strong ape, and nearly beating him into unconsciousness.
  • Besting the Dead King Atlan and tanking a blow from the Mystic Relic which shattered old Atlantis.
  • His greatest testament by far however, would be challenging a maddened Hercules. Demi-God son of Zeus with
• Troubled, but Cute: In high school, he was always brooding. Didn't stop the ladies, however.
• Underestimating Badassery: It happens to him a lot. One of the biggest instances being Gorilla Grodd being nearly stomped into unconsciousness after mocking Aquaman about needing to be near water to fight.
• Unscrupulous Hero: Usually not. Among the Justice League, he's definitely one of the more moral members, even trying his hardest not to kill the Trench when they are trying to devour humans en masse! However, in his past with the Others, he was definitely the most amoral member of the team, to the point where he was willing to let an entire village die to kill Black Manta, only begrudgingly saving a little girl, then literally tossing her aside like garbage afterwards. And that's apparently with the team reining him in! It's implied that, on his own, he was much worse. However, Arthur is very ashamed of how he used to be, and at best it's portrayed as the "angry young man" phase of his life.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: That Atlantean scale armour tends to come off a lot.
• Weaponized Animal: Once more he's still able to ask sea life to perform tasks on his bidding.
• Wound That Will Not Heal: Garnered one from Hila when she ripped his blood out through his skin using her power.
• You Killed My Father: Kind of. Black Manta was hired to take some of Arthur's blood, but ran into Tom, and caused him to have a heart attack. Arthur blamed Manta, intending to kill him, but killed Manta's father.

Aquaman III (Arthur Joseph Curry)

Aquaman III

First Appearance: Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #40 (May, 2006)

"I'm not Aquaman. They got the wrong guy. They can get someone else to get their Aqua-cat out of their Aqua-tree, or whatever."

When Orin disappeared due to the circumstances of Sub Diego's rising, Arthur Joseph Curry eventually came to become the second Aquaman. His origin was similar to the Golden Age version of Aquaman in that he was the son of a human scientist who was born prematurely, so his father gave him the abilities needed to survive underwater. He was mentored by the Dweller in the Depths, who was actually the missing Orin.

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• Amulet of Concentrated Awesome: Unable to understand sea creatures naturally, he initially used a magic amulet to talk to the fish before it and its powers were absorbed into him.
• Arch-Enemy: Krusivax and the Clownfish were the only original rogues he fought and haven't been seen since his storyline came to a close.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: After Final Crisis he disappeared, leaving behind his trident and uniform, and hasn't been seen since.
• Cosmic Plaything: Artie Joe got dragged into worldspanning adventures and mythology just because he shared the same name as the original Aquaman and happened to be near where King Shark was being attacked.
• Depending on the Artist: Depending on who's drawing him, he looks anywhere from his late teens to being middle-aged, with the only concrete evidence of his age being "younger than the first Aquaman."
• Do Not Call Me "Paul": After learning the truth about about his origins, he goes by "Joseph" as he feels he stole the name "Arthur" from the original Aquaman.
• Exotic Eye Designs: His eyes are completely black like a fish's when underwater to distinguish him from the first Aquaman.
• Important Haircut: He can be distinguished from Orin by his hair, which is longer than Orin's crew cut and goes past his shoulders. (Except for an appearance in Superman/Batman where he had short hair.)
• Just a Kid: He was younger than the original Aquaman and villains frequently made disparaging comments about his youth, skinnier build, and lack of experience.
• Legacy Character: The replacement for the original Aquaman, which was noted in-story.
  Arthur: Is that it then? So long old Aquaman, say hey to the new Aquaman, let's get a move on?
• Mythology Gag: His origins are a throwback to Aquaman's origin story in the Golden Age.
• Pretty Boy: His later appearances had his youth, long hair, and attractiveness emphasized, especially with a sword being his signature weapon.
• Put on a Bus: Following the Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis series, he had scattered appearances before disappearing in order to make way for Arthur to come back.
• Required Secondary Powers: His father actually had these in mind in the experiments he undertook to allow him to survive.
• Sad Clown: Constantly making jokes to deal with the stress of being who he is.
• Second Coming: The Atlanteans thought of him as being the reincarnation of the missing King Orin, which caused him to eventually retire.
• Soul Fragment: He ended up with a fragment of Orin's soul when he was born, which activated when the latter became the Dweller in the Depths.
• Supporting Protagonist: He was ultimately a player in Orin's story as the keeper of his soul fragment and disappeared once his role was fulfilled and the original Aquaman returned.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He coincidentally had the same first and last name as the first Aquaman's surface name.
• Taught by Television: He lived in a tank for most of his life and learned about the world via TV.

Aquaman IV (Jackson Hyde)

See Aquaman: Supporting Cast

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